How things came to be: The Story of Torrin & Ghost
by Sylo Corden
Summary: Torrin was suppose to have a nice quiet birthday in his new pad, guess the good Lord had other ideas . . .


**Author's note** : This is the back story of my main character Ghost, and the events that led up to her joining the group from my first story Shadowrunners (a gaming group that was run by my friend Ben) This is a first in that its not based on any in-game events, but rather made up to explain a few things about Ghost and Torrin's relationship. I would recommend reading Shadowrunners first, but hopefully I managed to write this in such a way that you don't need to. This all started as stats on a piece of paper, but evolved into something that Im still writing about even years after we played our last campaign. Enjoy!

How Things Came To Be: The Story of Torrin and Ghost

1

"Hey Tor, nice job" Amadeus nodded at me as we landed; the roar of the helicopter almost drowning out his words "I thought we were a goner for a second there, bypassed just in the nick of time" I gave my mentor a nod, it wasn't often that he passed a compliment, I could count on one clawed hand the number I'd received from the great troll.

"So the payload is in?" Dash asked, by far the least intimidating of us, the only mage in the group he stood at my shoulder looking out over Seattle; such a frail human body he had, even for his kind, but his magic was staggering; his dark blonde hair whipped around his lined face, he looked old now, we all did.

"It's in" I confirmed tapping my coms, "we just got paid enough to make us very happy metahumans for a long time" Dash looked down, he was thinking about Tera, she had been killed in the raid, just seconds from escape. This was to be her last job, but now she was dead, in that sense at least she had been true to her word. I put a hand on Dash's shoulder "We'll all miss her mate" small words that would offer little comfort, but he looked at me gratefully anyway.

"So" Amm said clapping his huge paws together "What are you going to spend your riches on?" his tone trying to lighten the mood, Tera's death was one of many that we had simply gotten used to. It was a hard life being a runner, those that got into this line of work usually did so because they were desperate, Amm was different, he _liked_ the running, got a thrill from it, so had I until the casualties had started to pile up; losing so many people numbed you.

We jumped from the chopper and made our way to the building's basement. Doc was waiting for us there, hand rolled cigarette in her fingers, she looked for sign of Tera, saw Dash's face and simply nodded, and handed over the cigarette, which he numbly took.

"That boy of yours Dash keeps getting in the way" she complained pulling back her blonde hair, now streaked with grey, "kept tinkering with my source box nearly shorted the fucker" Dash shrugged.

"Don't know why you're complaining at me, the boy has a talent for stuff I don't understand" Amm handed me a cigar and for a few moments there was just silence and smoke.

"I've had a thought, why don't you take the boy for a while Tor?" Amm suggested looking at me with those red eyes of his.

"Me?" I asked surprised, "You serious? Hell I can't even look after myself, what am I gonna do with a teenage lad?"

"Emmett's not a bad kid" Amm said "You could teach him technomancy, hell he ain't got the magic skill, and I can't teach him jack, Dash won't let me anywhere near the lad" Dash snorted his confirmation behind a cloud of smoke.

"Teach him?" I asked still surprised "What? You mean mentor him?"

"Why not? you're the best technomancer in the city, and now the final job is over and done with it's not like you'll be doing anything else for a while" Doc said "You should settle down Tor, you're not getting any younger you know, Orcs don't live as long as humans, you're running out of time to find yourself a nice girl" I had to laugh at that.

"Me? Settle?" the thought of it was just ludicrous "You're kidding right?"

"You gonna carry on running?" Amm was curious, the troll was the type to carry on to the end, even with the vast fortune we now had between us. I thought a moment, unlike the others I didn't have a family to raise and look after; I didn't have anyone waiting for me to come home. Dash had his boy Emmett, the Doc had Amm to an extent, when Amm's wife wasn't around at least, a strange affair but it worked for the two of them.

I would normally be the one to disapprove of an affair such as theirs but they were right for each other. Amm's marriage had been one of convenience and he cared little for her, the way things stood between them there would be a divorce sooner or later, I suppose the only reason I didn't mind was because there were no kids involved anymore. Amm's son had died of an illness, half troll, half human had given him some odd anatomy that just didn't compute with each other; after the child's death he'd started sleeping with Doc, finding a measure of comfort there. But me, who did I have? I had a goldfish, Sharky and that was pretty much it.

"Maybe" I admitted to Amm "Nothing much else to do" Doc fixed me with one of her looks

"You know Tor, maybe you _should_ take on mentoring, you can pass on your skills to a new generation, and you can keep up the running, call it on the job training" she said "Or you could join the church like you always wanted" I looked down at the crucifix hanging against my neck and shook my head slowly

"Killed too many meta humans to do that" I said, I wasn't wrong; there had been a lot of people who had died by my hand, and not all of them had been necessary, the church didn't forgive that, HE didn't forgive that. "I'm not sure what I'll do" I turned to the Doc "What about you?"

"Me?" Doc flicked her cigarette butt to the floor, crushing it with her boot "I got the clinic, so long as it's running I'm happy" Amm stretched then clapped me on the back.

"Well you got a bit of time I think to sort through your head, and on that note I'm heading out, I'll be round to play cards on Friday as always, and Dash, bring the boy" Dash nodded, his eyes still off in the distance. I felt bad that we were discussing things so casually after Tera's death not twelve hours before, but it was the style of life for a runner.

"I'll take my leave too" I said, I wanted to get back and absorb the night's dealings; I was rich, richer than I'd dare dream possible, but it had come at a price, Tera. "I'll see you all on Friday"

There were mutterings of goodbye and I left the basement clinic to get some air.

2

Exhausted from the job I slept the next day away, it was nine in the evening before I awoke. I groaned and rolled out of bed, claws catching the lamp which fell on my head as I hit the floor, a routine that goes back to my rookie days; I hated waking up.

I pulled my crucifix round my neck and limped to the bathroom, surveying the damage in the mirror. 300lb of black hulk stared back at me with tired yellow eyes, I was barely twenty five but I looked about forty, not good, my horns were flaking and I swear I could see grey in my beard, I was a mess.

"Maybe a quiet, sit down mentoring job isn't such a bad idea" I grumbled to myself. I showered and brushed my teeth, changing into a plain jeans and T. Barefoot I padded across the small apartment to the permanent coms in the corner of the kitchen.

This thing was old school; I'd rescued it from the trash, fixed her up, she was slow, but she had style. And because of her age, she was virtually unhackable. No-one carried the software anymore, so she was hard to trace even by skilled technomancers. The King of Diamonds playing card spun on the screen before popping up with a password prompt, I dutifully typed in my codes and then checked my bank balance, whistling appreciatively at the sum there. Then I moved on to a slightly more serious note. I punched a number and heard the dial tone click.

A moment later a hooded figure appeared on my screen.

"Young Master Tor, what a nice surprise" the voice behind the cowl whispered. "Is this call for business or pleasure?"

I shifted uncomfortably "Hello Eraser, just business as always" I hated the Eraser; he was like the grim reaper of shadow runners. The red glow that were his eyes flashed in amusement for a moment, I swear the bastard was in this job because he enjoyed death.

"Name" the Eraser asked.

"Tera Ford"

"Miss Ford?" The Eraser seemed genuinely surprised "How unfortunate, though not that we didn't see this coming, she wasn't exactly the stealthiest of your group, and deletion will take much longer, at least double the standard fee"

I typed on the keypad, then lit a cigar

"Money is transferred" I told him, "Begin the process"

"As you wish" The Eraser said, I swear I caught a flash of a smile in that shadow "Deletion to be completed in 42 hours, thank you for the business" I scowled and shut the screen down.

How I hated those monsters. I brought up my personal coms, flashing up a picture of Tera, from happier days; she was sitting on Amm's shoulders beaming down at us with a ventilation grate in her hands. She had been a master at infiltration when running, but she had countered that with being a very cheery and open person out in the daylight, happy to chatter to anyone, she would be missed by those who remembered her.

The image flickered and died, my coms showing extra file space than before, her data erased, in the next 42 hours not a single matrix image would exist of her, well all but one. I looked to my old computer; my dog tag collection. On the drive was stored a single picture of each member of crew I had ever worked with, living and dead, one single picture was all that remained in the word of some of them. For you see, to die as one of my runners meant to be wiped from existence completely.

In 42 hours, no-one would even know who Tera Ford had even been.

3

I spent the next few weeks moving house, trying several places, finally deciding on down town Seattle. With the money I had I could have lived anywhere but downtown with the low and lifeless was where I was most comfortable, it was after all the only thing I'd know my whole life. The area I'd chosen was a hodgepodge of humans and metahumans, great and small, an eclectic mix you might say.

The flat was a simple two up, two down, a small bathroom, two smallish bedrooms and a kitchen come living area, spacious compared to most places I'd lived but humble enough not to give away my recently acquired fortunate earnings. There were also plenty of running contacts nearby, and I wasn't far from Doc's clinic, all told I had pretty much everything I needed.

"What you gonna do with the spare room?" Amm asked dumping my final box on my grubby table, the old wooden legs creaking under the weight.

"Dunno, maybe a gym, or keep it free for when your sorry ass gets too drunk to walk home" I teased, Amm laughed.

"Made much more progress on what you want to do?" he asked, he was fishing for my decision on mentoring or whether to carry on running or retiring. From what I heard Amm was looking for a new crew to train, even as rich as he was he'd never give up the run.

"Think I'll start with Emmett" I said. Doc had been right, I should train someone to be a technomancer, pass on the skills; true Amm was MY mentor, but I'd surpassed him long ago, maybe this Emmett would do the same.

"Good choice, Dash'd appreciate it" Amm said, the mention of Dash had me asking

"He any better?" Amm shook his head, though his face was plain and passive his eyes held sadness there.

"Doc says he's dying, nothing up with him physically, just lost the will in him, and he took Tera's death hard, harder than he should have" the meaning behind his words wasn't lost on me.

"You think he and Tera were lovers?"

"Pretty sure, they were always together, just never seemed right for each other in that sense, maybe that's why we didn't see it happen, Mage and Mischief" Amm's face dropped "Her files are gone, I checked" I nodded, there was something about the finality for Amm when he could no longer access a person's picture, as if they had never existed and all his memories were false, just a dream, but it was our way.

Outside a storm cloud was gathering darkness, the roll of thunder echoed in the near bare house; Amm looked out over his broad shoulder.

"Well that's my cue to get the fuck out of here before it starts pissing it down" he said

"Stay for a beer first?" I offered. Amm strolled to the fridge, empty.

"Maybe next time Tor, I know its your big day and all but you know me" he said, I shrugged grabbing my coat "Where you going?"

"To fill the fridge" I said with a grunt. I locked up and walked with Amm to the tube line, where the great troll muttered a happy birthday before getting on his train; from there to the nearest All-Mart, Metahuman-and-Me glared at me in neon lights, now bright against the black sky.

The first drops of rain began to fall as I stepped inside. It quickly became a torrent, I filled my trolley with beer and food, I took a look out the window; damn I hated getting wet. I cast my eye about and came across an umbrella stand, unfortunately most people had had the same idea, all the umbrella that were left were either pink, or vomit yellow, brilliant.

I sighed heavily, no one would be out in this downpour surely, and it only had to last until I got to the house a block over. I grabbed a brolly and shoved it into the trolley.

Outside I was to be even more dismayed when I realised my purchase wasn't just pink, but floral too, I groaned, still it would do. I carried my purchases in one arm, holding the brolly close lest the paper bags get wet and the content spill out into the streets where rapid rivers were quickly forming.

A drowned rat ran over my foot and into an alley, even the rodents seemed to be suffering in the downpour. Then I paused, straining my ear at the opening of the alley, I was sure . . . there it was again, a sob. Casting my sense over the alley I caught the smell of blood; the rat squeaked in alarm and ran back towards me, out into the rain. Curious I wandered into the alley opening.

Bare feet stuck out behind a dumpster, bare legs came next, and I could hear the sound of scratching nails on flesh, even above the din of the rain. In the dim light I could just make out a girls face rocking back and forth into my vision, eyes wild she didn't notice me. I shook my head silently, poor creature, another lost soul in the big city. I turned and walked back to the house.

Inside I put away my things, mind on the image of the girl, she was probably an orphan; homeless, and given how cold it had become she would probably die tonight, add to that the fact that she was injured. I could smell the blood on her strongly; I shook my head at the thought, people died every day in the city, what was one more?

I shook the brolly in the porch way, folded it and stepped out to the bin on the pavement. I opened the lid and jumped back, startled as a huge rat jumped from the bin onto the street, running off into the night, seemed like the rats were out in force.

The creature was probably the same bugger from the alleyway with the girl, there was that image again, that rocking barefoot child, I gritted my teeth. God damn it Torrin, what are you thinking?! I glanced down at the brolly in my hands, already drenched now from standing in the rain it mattered not now why I had even bought the bloody thing in the first place.

I stomped back inside, not caring that the pink monstrosity was still clutched in my hands. I needed a beer. I pulled a bottle from the fridge it wasn't cold yet but I didn't care, I pulled the cap with my teeth, the hard metal cut my lower lip slightly, enough for a thin line of blood to well up, blood, like the child in the alley . . . oh for heavens sake, the image appeared again and I knew I wouldn't be able to forget it ever, it was too clear, too crisp.

I stared at the bottle in my hands thinking, what was I thinking? I didn't know, but what I did know as that I had a spare bed that I wasn't using. My crucifix dangled from my neck just in my vision, yeah that's right HE would want me to do the right thing. I grunted in annoyance, grabbed the umbrella and went back out into the night.

4

She was exactly as I had left her, drenched to the bone, thin and frail. The smell of blood was thick, even in the heavy rain. I moved closer, taking in more of her; she was a young teenager, pale skinned, and skinny. Her black hair was plastered to her face, just as her torn clothing was plastered to her skin; skin marred with bruises some I was shocked to notice were in places they had no right to be in. Her clothes were fine material, not the rough garb of a street urchin, a runaway? She rocked back and forth clawing at the back of her neck, a trail of blood flowing down staining her dress. She didn't even see me there; I moved closer, not a blink.

"If you stay out in the rain all night you'll catch a cold" I said from the darkness, the night was brutal wind and lashing rain, so hard it stung my skin, I could only imagine what it felt like to her, her clothes clinging to every part of her, no shoes her feet must be cold, despite the heat prior to the storm. I looked down into a pair of dull black eyes; jet black like the night.

Over seven foot tall and all muscle I stepped out of the darkness; all she could do was stare, a blank tired look of acceptance, never even flinching as I moved my arm over her. The rain stopped over her; she drew her gaze above my head where the pink floral umbrella sat.

"Name's Torrin or Tor for short" I supplied, she dragged her gaze back to me, and I nodded and gestured with my free hand that she tells me her name.

"Sy . . " she murmured, I placed a hand to my ear "Sylo" she said a little louder, the wind carrying her words away, I held out my hand and she took it gingerly, her hand so tiny in my huge grip, had I wanted to I could crush it in a blink.

"Are you not afraid of me young Sylo?" I asked. She shook her head, now beyond caring; her hand was light and very cold "Who are you running away from?"

"Who says I'm running" she snapped back pulling her arm away, I paused for a moment.

"Well generally people out for a stroll wear shoes" I said "And the rain hasn't quite covered the tear stains" at that she brushed at her cheeks, pulling away the black strands of hair that clung there, not realising that by doing so she had just confirmed that she had indeed been crying. As she lifted her arms I couldn't help but notice the bruising there, my eyes travelled over the torn dress, pausing at the bruises as I found them. "You're bleeding" I noted, the thin trickle of red down her neck had begun in earnest now.

"It's nothing" she said moving her hair to hide it. I stared hard at her for a moment.

"So why are you running?" I repeated, she shot me a defiant look and I simply sat and waited patiently, still holding the umbrella over her head I was rapidly being drenched by the rain, again, not even getting the use out of the bloody contraption that had essentially brought me here.

"I . . . I killed someone" she told me looking away; I was taken aback, really this child? There was no way this slip of a girl could be responsible for someone's death . . . unless . . .

"This someone, did they give you these bruises?" instinctively she pulled her dress over her knees to hide the marks of hands too rough on young skin "How old are you Sylo?"

"For. . . ." she murmured, I gestured with my ear again.

"You need to speak up" I said, damn straight the wind was picking up and she spoke so quietly, damn now I felt really old, tired all the time, pretty much retired and now it seemed I was losing my hearing.

"Fourteen" she repeated, I nodded, she was at an age where the courts would try her as an adult, and depending on the circumstances she would receive the death penalty.

She is too young to die.

The thought came into my head automatically, sounding loud as if my subconscious had shouted it at me, what was I supposed to do? Take her with me? If she really was a runaway then she could cause me a whole heap of trouble, trouble that I really didn't want now.

She started to rock back and forth again, her hands pulling at her neck once again, her eyes were beginning to glaze over and I shivered from the cold. She really was too young to die, and if I left her here then she would die this very night.

"Tell you what Sylo, why don't you come with me?" the words were automatic before I could sensor them, too late now something had made the decision for me. She flinched away from me then, the movement strained on her body, suddenly I could smell fear coming from her "I promise I won't harm you, and I promise we won't go to the police" again she moved away, now into the rain for a moment before the umbrella was placed over head once more "why do you do that?"

"Do what?" she asked.

"Scratch at your neck" I stated, her hand stopped, she probably hadn't even realised she was doing it, I pulled her hand away, fresh blood caught beneath her grubby fingernails.

"They find you" she whispered, Ahh, now I understood. A runaway who wanted, no, needed to stay hidden. She wasn't afraid of me; she was afraid of whoever else might find her and take her back to the hell she was running away from. Maybe I could help her.

"Bio-ware implants are easy to track, if you don't want to be found then I can make sure no-one finds you again" I said as gently as I could; I held out a hand. She stared up into my eyes, in that moment I wish I knew what she was thinking; stay where she was and die, or be found and taken home, or she could come with me, possibly be killed or there was just the smidgen of hope that she might find a sanctuary.

She took the hand I offered and we disappeared into the black of the night like ghosts . . .

5

"Jesus fucking Christ Tor!" Amm hissed at me "What the fuck have you done?"

"I'm helping" I said simply, Amm was pacing the living room; Doc was upstairs with Sylo giving her a check over, I could have taken her anywhere to be checked, but this needed people I could trust, and whilst the Doc may not have the best bedside manner, she could care, and she was also a woman, given the placing of the bruises a male doctor would only frighten the child even more.

"She's a runaway Tor, or didn't you notice? Damn high bred too" he stood waving his arms, nostrils flaring, oooh he was pissed.

"She's a victim of a serial rapist AMM" I snapped back, "Or hadn't YOU NOTICED!?" At that Amm fell into his mutterings and pacing's again "I mean come on, after seeing her like that what did you expect me to do? Turn her back in to the monster?"

"That's not what I meant Tor" Amm began

"Really Amm, well what did you mean? she's a fourteen year old runaway who's daddy treats her like his personal whore, there's no other way she would get so many bruises Amm, no way, she's suffered a LONG time" I was angry, furious even, part of it was at myself, I had almost left her alone out there, I had nearly let the child die.

"Step father" Doc's voice came from the stairway.

"What?" Amm and I asked in unison

"It was her step father; her real father is dead Tor" Doc stepped into view and leant against the door frame pulling out tobacco and papers.

"She talked to you? How is she? Is she . . . "

"She's sleeping, I've doped her up so she won't feel a thing for a good eight hours or so, maybe more, and I've disabled her coms device, internal one, was hard to do, but she asked me" Doc said, her practised fingers deftly rolling.

"What did she say?" Amm asked.

"Nothing, just begged not to be taken back, that and her name"

"Oh? How do you know it's her step father then" Amm asked before me.

"She's Sylo Corden" Doc said "She's the step daughter of Mega Corp chief exec Strykerius Fisher. Her disappearance has been running on the matrix news all night, seems someone took a swing at daddy and ran off; they're treating it as a kidnapping. No witnesses" See this was why I needed to pay attention to the news between jobs, but I had been busy with the move.

"The step father?" Amm asked, moving a box so he could sit at the table

"Found unconscious, but alive" Doc said sending me the link to the news flash "If you're serious about keeping her hidden you'll need to remove that coms device" Doc wasn't wrong, disabling it would only work temporarily.

"You can't be serious about hiding this girl?" Amm sad "That's crazy talk, she's a Mega Corp heir, they'll hit you so hard it'll make your ancestors dizzy, this chick has more money than we just hauled as a group, she may as well be a princess of the whole of the earth she's that crazy rich" but I wasn't paying Amm much attention. I was too busy staring at the Doc.

"Can you do it?" I asked

"I can" she said "I'll prep the table, we'll remove it tonight, any bio signature is gonna keep the coms active, my tinkering will only knock it out for so long" I nodded my head.

"This is lunacy Tor" Amm warned, Doc turned to him, fury in her eyes.

"Amadeus Rider, do you honestly expect me to turn away and give the girl up? Amm she needs help, lord knows we've taken enough in this world, now it's time to give it back" She shot him a cold look "She's a _Corden_ Amm" the meaning was not lost to him and I could see the second that Amm caved, he never could say no to Doc.

"Fine" he grumbled "But when a Mega Corp busts your ass I get to laugh in your face before they put a bullet in it" He picked at his fingernails, a sign that he was worried.

That was just fine by me.

"Give me twenty minutes prep then we'll be ready to go" Doc said packing up her kit bag "Tor, you'll have to carry her, she's out cold"

"I still don't believe we're doing this" Amm hissed as I strode up to the room where the girl slept, I left the couple to argue it out between them.

The room was bare but for the bed and the girl, Doc had given her one of my T's to wear as a night shirt and damn thing nearly fell from her, she was so tiny. I shook her gently, no response, ever so gently I lifted her from the bed, wrapping the sheet round her as extra warmth. Doc was still laying into Amm as I reached the bottom of the stairs.

". . . no idea what she'll go through. I won't Amm, it'll kill her, there's so much trauma in so many places that I'm not even sure she'll live past the internal damage that I'll have to fix. She will die Amm, whether it's on the operating table or by her step fathers hand, and right now I know _exactly_ which one I'd prefer" Doc stormed out, a quick gesture for me to follow; she held out the umbrella over me as we carried Sylo to the Doc's car.

6

"Her chances of surviving this are slim" Doc warned me "she's got a fully integrated coms attached directly to the spinal column, not to mention a hell of a bit of kit for cosmetic enhancers"

"Cosmetic tech, she's too young for that surely?" I said surprised.

"Young maybe but she has them, the work is top class too, barely a scar at all. I'm not sure if she wanted them or if they were forced on her; if she's daddy's whore he may have insisted she look like someone else when he toyed with her" Doc spat venom. There weren't many things the Doc hated, but child molesters and bad parents were the two top ones; Doc was sterile and would never have her own children, so she was overly protective of any child she treated.

"You'll do your best I know" I told her, looking at the intricate web of wires on the x-ray scan of the girl, she really was wired up to the nines. It wouldn't be a simple procedure, Amm would no doubt have asked for all the wiring to be removed, no chances, rather than just the main unit, but would she survive that?

"She'll be free tonight, one way or the other" Doc promised, she gave me a tentative smile and left me alone in the waiting room, this night just kept getting longer and longer.

I found Amm by the coffee machine some hours later.

"Hey" I said pushing buttons to grab a coffee that I would likely regret drinking.

"Hey Tor" Amm replied, I sighed, he was still mad at me; and rightly so.

"Look I'm sorry to bring this on you both I just" I began

"I know" Amm interrupted "you just like getting into trouble" he shot me a tired grin "I'm sorry for what I said back at the house, I know you were just doing what you feel is right"

I shook my head "Don't worry about it, you're just letting me know what I'm getting myself in for, so thanks" I told him, I took a sip of coffee and grimaced, oh yeah, regretting it. We sat there in silence whilst Doc worked her magic.

"She's still here, but the next twenty four hours will be vital" Doc said coming out of the med room, she looked tired, drained. She handed Amm a plastic bag, inside was a lot of wire, coated in blood, the removed coms link "She'll have a scar, I'm afraid the area was already pretty badly torn up by her fingernails so was hard to keep neat, but she's tech free now" Doc pulled off her lab coat and grab a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, lighting one and taking a long drag before continuing.

"I give her twenty percent chance of surviving this" she said, "we actually lost her a few times on the table, not sure how we brought her back each time, she should by rights already be dead" she took another long drag and gave me a sideways look, this was when things got bad, Doc had more to say.

"Just tell me" I said, she nodded and flicked her cigarette ash into an empty coffee cup, taking a breath before delivering the blow.

"She was with child" she said "ectopic, too dangerous for her to keep, I'm not sure if she knew or not it was very early stages, little more than a collection of cells at this stage, but with her sensors she might have known about it"

"You think that's what triggered the running?" I asked, Amm was silent, fists clenched hard, he was angry.

"Maybe" Doc said "I had to abort it Tor, if she knew and wanted to keep it, she might hate me for doing it, but she'd never be able to carry to term" Doc's voice faltered and cracked, this was a sore spot for her, and Amm immediately wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, showing his softer side to the only person who really mattered to him.

"Thanks Doc" I said, and I meant it, I really meant it

"So what are we going to do with her?" Amm asked me, I didn't know, but I was thinking.

"Maybe we should ask her" I said "She can stay with me till she finds her feet I guess" Doc gave me a worried look, and I could tell what she was thinking.

"She might not ever find her feet Tor, are you prepared for that? That she might be completely dependent on you for the rest of your life" I paused.

"I guess we'll find out"

7

She was tiny in the hospital bed, so very frail. I took a moment to really study her; overly large eyes for such a small face, long rich red lashes, perfect skin complexion, but then she would have to be perfect as the heir to a mega corp.

The removal of the implants had changed her hair and eyes to their natural colour, a rich fire berry red, cosmetic companies would die to bottle that shade, so why mute it to the black she had worn? Her eyes were huge green discs that watched me as carefully as I watched her, it was an awkward silence.

Doc had been in to check her over once she woke, it had been touch and go, she'd arrested in recovery on the first day, but somehow God had decided that she wasn't ready yet, it wasn't her time. A week later and she was actually able to walk around. The operation had been a complete success, her motor functions were all normal and every trace of technology was removed. Doc had even managed to find and remove a hidden tracker that all rich kids no doubt had fitted. She was squeaky clean.

"Sylo, do you remember me?" I asked tentatively, she nodded not a word "Do you remember what I told you? About them not being able to find you again?" something close to fear passed by her eyes, did she think I would send her back?

"Sylo, we removed all of your technology, every trace of it, tracker beacon included, they can't find you through that anymore" she seemed uncertain "Sylo, I can go further, I can delete every record of you ever being seen in public, to the world it will be as if you didn't exist" Not strictly true, the mega corps would have firewalls great enough to withstand the virus, but any standard or unprotected equipment would be wiped, I had never attempted to erase a living person before, but I was confident it could be done.

The mega corp step father obviously had something to hide from Sylo's disappearance, they had announced on the news that morning that Sylo's body had been found. The public thought she was dead, an accident that had badly burned the remains. I felt sorry for whoever was really sat waiting to be buried in Seattle Cemetery under Sylo's name. Why would they allow her erasure unless they had been trying to get rid of her anyway? I didn't know, and after over a week of worry I didn't really care now.

"Sylo, do you want me to delete your existence? It means that you won't ever have been born, you'll be given a new name, a new identity, you can start over" she looked away "But you can never go back" I warned, she turned her head back to me and nodded. The look was one of certainty, fine then it was settled.

I paused, now the hard part "Sylo, there is one other thing, I have a spare room, it isn't much, but you're welcome to stay with me, similarly the Doc has room to spare and we have people that are willing to take you in if you want to be in a family setting" At first she did nothing, letting the offer sink in then for the briefest moment she looked like she was about to cry.

Her hand found mine and held on, her grip tight, I knew then that this meant I was responsible for her, she had chosen, I gave her a slight smile and nodded, she would stay with me. I took a breath; things could get very interesting at mine from now on . . . .

8

"Amm, you're not pulling your weight" Doc complained as she hoisted a wooden frame practically by herself, Amm grumbled and hefted the frame on his shoulder whilst I positioned a second frame to be attached. This was the last part and the room would be ready.

Well, if I'd had my way it would have been fine as is, but Doc had insisted that the room be made more presentable for a girl, which meant painting it, the colour chosen was a deep green, with gold painted Japanese symbols, Doc had done that, apparently they were for tranquillity and calm, they were just weird lines to me, but they did look pretty, huh? Pretty? Not a word I ever envisioned using, maybe I was going soft?

"I'll get the paint" Doc said with a grin after the last screw was tightened, I sighed; Doc had really taken to this decorating the room business, but I couldn't think why.

"More paint?" Amm asked surprised, he hated paint, the fumes made him sneeze horrendously and despite our rich status he was still stingy and saw it simply as a waste of money.

"Yes more paint" Doc said "It's just a bare wood frame, it doesn't match anything"

"It's brown, green goes with brown" Amm said, Doc shot him a look that said she wasn't impressed.

"Tor, do you remember where I put the brushes?"

"In the sink" I said, I just went along with it, whilst I really felt the same way as Amm about the whole paint fumes making it difficult to breathe I was actually enjoying seeing Doc in such a good mood, she hadn't seemed happier than the last few days whilst we'd been decorating and prepping Sylo's room, she hadn't even stopped for a cigarette. And I swear I'd heard her humming earlier to herself, I couldn't help but smile.

"What if she doesn't like green?" Amm asked, trust him to try and dampen the mood, Amm was the type that if he was in a foul mood he was pretty certain to make everyone else feel the same.

"Then we'll re-do it" Doc said with a grin, a paint brush in one hand and a bucket of black wood paint in the other "K boys, grab a brush"

"If I didn't love you" Amm grumbled taking a brush anyway, he wasn't the most dextrous of people with his hands and we soon ousted him to collect food instead.

"Tor?" Doc's voice questioned whilst I was busy painting the underside of the bunk, why the _underside_ too? I swear she liked seeing my and Amm suffer all these fumes.

"Uh huh?"

"Have you thought about how this will change you?" she asked, her light mood suddenly tainted with something more serious.

"Change me?"

"You'll be acting as a father figure for this girl . . ."

"She's had enough of those" I interrupted "I think more a guardian or big brother, or whatever, point is she's just staying here whilst she gets sorted, in a year she'll be old enough to apply for housing if she wants it"

"IF, she wants it" Doc stressed "The girls been awake a week in the hospital and she barely lets you out of her sight, you're like this big hero to her you know" me?

"Seriously?" I asked, cursing under my breath as I dropped the brush for the millionth time, stupid tiny handles

"Oh yeah, I'm being totally serious, you're the reason she's still alive Tor, the public think she's dead, if her step father finds out she's still alive then he'll be sending people after her"

"I take it that means we got the Eraser's report back?"

"Yeah" she dropped her voice despite no one else being around "The Eraser came back with the schematics of the house, the camera system there recorded the whole event, the Step father was drugged up, beating up the girl's maid, she walked in on the whole thing, Step father attacked her, and she knocked him out with a lamp"

"Knocked him out, she said she'd killed someone"

"Well see this is where it starts to get interesting, it looks like the nephew tried to have her killed, seems she's the heir the estate, but if she's out of the picture . . . " I caught on to what was coming next.

"So he attacks her, tells her she's going away for murder, but she escapes, and before the nephew can do away with the uncle he's already up and recovering" Doc nodded.

"And he fakes her death so she can't go back" Amm interjected in the doorway, beer bottles in hand.

"Not realising that he's actually done her a favour by giving her an escape from the real monster in the house" Doc finished. Wow, just how fucked up was this child's life?

"So the Nephew didn't know about the Step father's advancements?"

"No-one did" Doc said, "though I imagine there were suspicions, there's a black hole in the security camera's leading from Sylo's room to the Step father's, he could come and go as he pleased without being seen" I whistled between my teeth.

"How does eraser know all this?"

"Easy" Amm said from the doorway "He's God" he gave me a grin and tossed me a bottle of beer "I'm gonna go downstairs, the fumes are making me dizzy" he grumbled and left us to finish.

"This does leave us with the problem that the nephew wants to find her and make sure she really can't go back" I said, Doc nodded.

"It's not as easy as deleting her now Tor, she needs to be protected, protected from her step father, protected from the nephew, hell Tor she needs to be protected from everyone for a while, she's a shell Tor, sometimes . . ." Doc broke off her voice cracking. I wasn't really the sentimental type of person, but drew her into an awkward hug as tears welled up in her usually steel hard eyes.

"She's just so young, and has been through so much, and . . . and she's going to have such a hard time adjusting to things, and I know it sounds cruel but given how hard things are going to be and what she'll have to come to terms with I think maybe . . . maybe she should have died on the table Tor, maybe she would have found some rest, been able to have real freedom from the world" tears were flowing freely now, her shoulders shaking

"Oh Tor she's never going to have a normal happy life, it will always be hard, everyone who knows her is either out to kill her or thinks she's dead, and what can we offer her? She's no runner Tor, she's a child!" I held her to me, feeling a little out of my league. Doc was right of course, Sylo had no-one else she could turn to other than a den of thieves and assassins, grifters and revolutionaries. I was in over my head; could I protect her from a mega corp? These guys had their own private army, mercenaries for hire, and what was to stop them from hiring a runner? There were people out there with skills and then there were people like Dash, mages, I couldn't fight off a mage. If I was really serious about helping this girl I was kissing goodbye to the quiet life I had fought so hard for, guess I wasn't retiring after all.

"I'll look after her Doc" I said "I swear whilst I'm alive no-one will lay a hand on her"

9

Having Sylo in the house was a really odd experience. In some ways it was as if she wasn't even there, she was like a ghost; she was silent when she walked, I'd turn around and she'd be stood right behind me, I wouldn't even hear her enter the room. And she never spoke, not once whilst she was awake, even trying to bring up conversation with her she would simply stare at me with those giant eyes of hers.

The first night we had brought her home from the clinic she had stepped into her room, and then cried, Doc had stayed with her until she had fallen asleep, I didn't know what was going on in her head, how could I, but I figured it wasn't going to be sugar and spice and all things nice.

When she slept however, that was a different matter entirely, I lost count of the number of nights I woke to her screaming, fitting in the bed The first time I had tried to go in and calm her, worst mistake I could have made; seeing me, and my shadow in the doorway to her room triggered terror in her. She had fitted enough to fall from the bed, leaving us with our first night back at the clinic. Slowly over several weeks she grew accustomed to her room, it became to her a safe haven, after that first night I never stepped one foot over the threshold, it was to be her sanctuary, though when the nightmares came I was utterly powerless to help her.

Doc was a constant support, Amm less so, but he reined in his brash side and was nothing if not gentle with Sylo when she was around, though it seemed he found her wraith like movements just as disturbing as I did.

In a way her being here was a distraction from Dash, who continued even now to deteriorate. His sister was already making preparations to take in his boy Emmett; it was as if Clare had already given up on her brother. He simply did nothing, didn't eat, sleep, talk, our friend was dying and here was nothing we could do or say to help.

"Please" Doc egged for the thousandth time, "just once more, try for me" I hung my head this time would be no different than before but I knew I would go, as always.

"I'll call in this evening, Amm is coming round so I'll get him to watch over Sylo for me" I promised. However seven came around and there was no Amm, damn him, he wasn't picking up calls either. I looked to Sylo, she was drawing silent as always at the table; a strange creature, a cross between a bear and a weasel, puffed red fur and a ringed tail, kanji scrawl at the side and in English the words red panda. She had an imagination, but as the picture took form it actually looked like a real creature, maybe it was one of those extinct bears or something. Half seven then eight, I had made a promise; still I didn't like the idea of leaving Sylo behind, which meant only one thing.

"Come my little ghost" I said "we're going to visit the Doc for a bit"

10

"You're later than you said" Doc said as we entered the clinic, she looked past me to Sylo "Hi Sylo, Its nice to see you out and about" she gave Sylo a warm smile, but as ever the girl simply blushed and hid behind me, a curtain of red hair hiding her face, I left her outside Dash's room.

"I'm just going to try and help a friend" I told her, she gave me a weak nod and sat down with the crayons, she was fourteen, but somehow she looked much younger. Dash's boy watched her sit and draw, as I entered the ward room I caught him trying to make conversation. I wished him luck; he was only a year, maybe two older than her, maybe she might open up to hm.

"Hey Dash" I said as I walked in, two glassy eyes looked up at me from the bed. I could see a drip and monitor, there were so many cables even I would have difficulty following them all. Dash was so frail, he'd never been the bulkiest of us, but still he was a shadow of his former self, wasting away, his body was shocking, but not so much so as his eyes, they were so empty, lifeless.

I pulled up a chair and sat beside him "Doc wants you to snap out of it already" I told him "You know this joke of yours has gone far enough, we're really worried about you now" emotionless eyes stared a me, I sighed heavily "I can't bring her back Dash, as much as I wish it were possible, she is gone, I miss her too, but look at you, what would she say if she could see you like his?"

Nothing, no emotion, just one slow blink to pass the time in those dead eyes, I sighed again and stood "I'll be back in a minute" I needed coffee; lord I really needed something stronger, but the black tar like substance that passed for coffee in this place would simply have to do.

I passed Sylo, now alone outside drawing, perhaps Emmett had gotten bored with her shyness, she seemed happy enough or as happy as she could be so I left her there whilst I wandered to the vending machine for it's plastic cups of equally plastic coffee, damn machine ate half my change before giving me a cup of the black tar. I stood and took a sip, yup, foul, but it would clear my head I had no idea how to get through to Dash, my hand automatically sought out my crucifix.

"You know Lord you could give me a hand here" I asked, muttering under my breath, I saw Emmett pass the end of the corridor, he was young, and the look on his face told me he believed he might lose his father any day now. I shook my head "You test me too much sometimes" I muttered to the Lord, binning the rest of my coffee I made my way back to Dash's room.

As I neared I realised there was no sign of Sylo, her pencils were left on the small notebook on the spare chair, my first reaction was that of panic, then I realised Dash's door was open; I distinctly remember closing that . . . something told me Sylo was inside; sure enough I walked to the threshold and I could see her standing over Dash's bedside.

One hand holding the skeletal hand of Dash, she was . . . talking to him, her voice such a soft whisper I couldn't hear her, but her eyes were filled with tears, and Dash . . . Dash was crying, the first emotion I had seen on his face in months, he held as tight to Sylo's hand as she did to his. For a moment I was transfixed, here in this room of slow death one wounded soul reached out to soothe another, maybe the Lord was watching after all.

I dare not disturb them, so I went to sit at the chair Sylo had been drawing in. it was over an hour before Sylo came out, eyes red but she seemed peaceful enough, she walked differently, more . . . sure. The change was subtle but it seemed to change her entire demeanour, she stood before me a moment, before flinging her arms around me in an embrace, arms tight, I was taken by surprise, since the first night she had come to me she had not once touched me, or been close to me, I did the only thing I could think of, I embraced her back.

11

After that Dash slowly got better, Doc gave me regular updates whilst he recovered, he wasn't the only one who was recovering, Sylo was more confident, she started to speak again, I even saw her smile for the first time. When Dash started to take solid food again I went to visit him, he simply said that Sylo had saved him, of this he was certain, that she had shared memories of losing her sister, her father and her mother leaving her alone in the world, alone with the cruel step father, how she had shown him how much she had been broken, and how much she had cried with joy when she had been given a second chance.

"She's a mage born" Dash told me "Her powers are weak, probably hampered by the tech she used to carry, but she has a power Tor, she needs to be trained how to use it, I'd like to teach her; please Tor, let me teach her," I could think of no better person I wanted to teach Sylo than Dash, and it gave him a purpose to strive for, and I guess this made us even since I would be teaching Emmett.

After that Dash and Sylo were close friends, his carefree nature helped to bring out the child that had never had a chance to come out. She started laughing, even played games, she started to study again. I walked into the house once to find her in the kitchen; books piled high on aerospace, a space pilot huh? She spent time with Emmett, who was taking lessons from me. As I had suspected he had a gift for the work, he was of course infatuated with Sylo, he even tried taking aerospace studies so he could spend more time with her, I think that was the time Dash realised his son was in love, poor boy took it real hard however when she turned him down. Still he persisted; maybe he was just a sucker for punishment. That must be the case since she had taken up martial arts and hammered him every time

Days passed quickly, and whilst everything was fine during the day the nightmares still plagued her, my one wish on those nights hearing her scream and fit was that I could wipe her memory of the events as easily as the Eraser had removed her existence from the world.

It had taken months of programming and hard work, but finally Clear water was ready, it is one thing to erase a dead person, but a living person was another thing entirely. But it would mean that she would be safe from random people, I hoped that without any image data any bounty hunters looking for her would fail even getting close, but I kept my pistols ready all the same.

"You work too hard, both of you" Doc said as she wandered around the kitchen looking for sugar, Sylo was studying, her aero pilot exam was coming up; indeed the alias Evelyn Xanders was set to be top of her class, I was sat still working the last bout of calculations, nearly over.

"Well Doc some of us need to keep busy, we're too young to retire" I told her "Besides I got that job to do from Amm's contact tonight and need to get this finished" Doc huffed and put her hands on her hips.

"I wish you wouldn't do jobs solo" She complained "I nearly had a heart attack when you came in last month with that bullet hole in your horns" I absent minded touched the hole, a habit I had picked up, a 9mm straight through. The whole thing had been a lucky escape.

"It didn't hurt" I told her for the thousandth time, Sylo grinned at me, she'd heard this argument over and over.

"I just wish you'd stay put Tor, what would Sylo do if you didn't come home?"

"I'd manage" she said, then dodged the book I threw at her, laughing, she was a completely different person when she laughed, beautiful. She had let her red hair grow longer, and now walked with a confident grace; she was still a little ghost though, except now she did it deliberately to startle me, a game to her.

Dash had taught her a few things about magic, she had taken it all in, a fast learner, but Dash had said that with magic, it was ruled by the emotions; hesitancy to strike cut the power of an attack, uncertainty made your magic waver, so far she had mastered a blast wave, though she was still shy inside, the outcome was a shockwave without the ignition of a blast, for which I hold up my hands was very grateful of, it was bad enough clearing up a shocked room, to have to put out fire as well would be too much.

"Torrin!" Doc shouted at me, I jumped in my chair "You're not listening to me again, would you at least take Dash?" I shook my head.

"It's an easy job, in and out in less than ten minutes, he'd only get in the way" she wasn't too happy with me and grumbled the entire way, Sylo simply sat and listened and studied as usual.

12

Later that night I pulled up next to the office block I would be infiltrating, I got in through the side door in less than five seconds and made my way up to the fifth floor. On the stairwell I thought I heard a shuffling noise, I paused, silently drawing my pistols, and stood in the dark I strained my ears. Nothing, no shouts of surprise, no sound of running feet, no alarm had been triggered, if it had been the building security I would have known about it by now; was it possible that I had imagined it?

I waited but still nothing, better move my ass before my window was up, I got into the fifth floor office easily enough, displayed with near one hundred cubicles each the same monotonous grey, each with a simple screen and jack in point I pitied the people who worked here. I brought up the map on my coms link, third row over on the twelfth desk, it looked exactly the same as the rest, I took a glance round and sat down in the chair, too low for my long legs but it kept me hidden behind the screens of the cubicle. I jacked in. As promised the file was here waiting to be picked up, a swift download and I was done.

I pulled out and stood to go. Instantly a shot rang out, hitting the cubicle side next to me. Shit, I spun and rolled to the floor diving into the neighbouring cubicle; taking the opportunity to take a glance at the room and more importantly who was shooting at me.

Two men were in the doorway, black stealth gear they looked like a professional extraction team, there would be a third somewhere then. I jumped up and took a shot, hearing one cry out, I hit the deck again and moved, this time away from the door and to the right, I was hoping to circle around to the other door, the one I had hit cried out again and I heard him collapse to the floor. I must have hit a vital area. Then there was silence in the room, a stand off, whoever made the first sound would give their position away.

Then I heard it, a shuffle, to my left. I rolled and shot blindly round the corner, give him a start then I could move. I rolled to the next corner, head down, I heard the sound of a body hit the ground, I wasn't hanging around to see what damage I had done, just surprised I'd hit him at all. I moved, jumping over the dead man at the doorway, out into the corridor I sprinted, jumping the banisters of the stairwell, pistol up and ready. At the foot of the stairs I didn't notice the black clad man in the shadows, lying down, I tripped sprawling, my gun skittered from my hands, but I was up in a second, turned ready for the fight!

Nothing, the man at the foot of the stairs was motionless, was he dead? Who had done this? He was dressed as the others had been, their third man . . . gingerly I stepped up to him, feeling for a pulse he was still alive, knocked out? No a choke hold, his neck was red from a strangle hold, had his colleagues done this to get a bigger cut? Or was there a third party here? I didn't want to stick around to find out. I turned and ran from the building, jumped into the van and set off, trying hard to keep to the speed limit.

"You forgot this" a voice beside me said. I freaked, hit the brakes causing us to swerve to an unhealthy stop across two lanes, in the shadow of the van Sylo's face appeared "Jesus Tor you should be more careful" she said.

"What? Sylo!" I yelled "What the hell are you doing here!?" she moved into the front passenger seat and propped her feet up on the dash board, she simply shrugged at me.

"Protecting your ass" she said, she tossed me a pistol "Like I said, you forgot this" it landed heavily on my lap, _my_ pistol, the one I had dropped in the corridor when I'd tripped.

"Where did you get this?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"You dropped it on your way out" she said "rookie mistake to leave personal affects behind"

"What were you dong in the building Sylo?" I was still surprised and was shouting, she simply blinked at me, unperturbed by the huge Orc trying to give her a grounding.

"I told you. I was protecting you" she said again she folded her arms and stared at me, I growled low.

"We're having a talk about this when we get back" I said, she shot me a look that said she didn't care, that in itself was a surprise, she had been so shy before, now to see her with so much confidence it was like she really was someone completely different. I set the van in motion once again and headed home.

13

"What do you expect Tor?" Amm said as I paced the living room "She's worried about you" he finished a cigar; seemingly none caring that Sylo had just been out, possibly killed people. I was furious.

"What do you mean what do I expect?" I asked "She put herself in danger Amm; there were men there, with guns!"

"And she saved your life" Amm said "I saw the whole thing through her coms device which if you'd have been at the top of your game you'd have spotted her signal" he said "The guy in the stairwell had a clear shot of you, had she not silenced him when she did you'd be dead, no if or but about it, you'd have been hit, she took him out easily enough too"

"You're not to encourage her with this" I told him. I could tell he was thinking to drag her into this world further, but it wasn't safe.

"Why not, you've practically been grooming her from this from the day she got here" he said casually, pulling another cigar from his pocket he ignored me as I spluttered trying to keep the anger in control.

"What?!" the idea was simply outrageous I hadn't done anything of the sort . . . had I?

"You have indeed" Amm said striking a match "The martial arts, magic with Dash, she's picked up some hacking from Emmett, you even told her stories of our missions Tor, why do you think she works so hard? She wants to be like you! She wants to be a runner, she's smart, fast, stealthy, she has all the qualities that a runner needs and then she has you" he took a drag of his cigar, letting the smoke roll around in his mouth before expelling it

"You know you're the perfect mentor, the perfect role model for the life, never taking jobs that are out of his reach, never taking a job without properly viewing the possibilities, you're careful and calculated in how you do things. You fit the lines together before you're supposed to and that gives you an edge, and so it gives her an edge. She doesn't just follow you around because you saved her, she follows you so you can teach her" I was stunned, had she really been taking classes in things so she could be like me?

"This isn't what I wanted for her Amm" I said, the anger being replaced by surprise and a measure of horror.

"Maybe not" the troll said taking another drag of his cigar "but it's what she has chosen for herself"

"But she could do anything she wants!" I protested

"She is Tor, she's running, because she WANTS to" he sighed "Look, how bad can it be for her? Really? She's perfect for infiltration how she moves, how she thinks, hell give her time and she'll be taking jobs on her own"

"But she's . . . she's . . ." I was lost for words.

"I know you want to protect her Tor, maybe this is the best way, next time, take her with you, if you don't, she'll only go off on her own, to places where you can't reach her, can't protect her" He put a hand on my shoulder.

"You love her Tor, I get it, I've seen it happening for a while, you won't act on it, you think it's not your right to, but you love her and she's sixteen, Tor, it's time she grew up now, you can't protect her all the time, but at least this way if she's going to go into danger you'll be there to help her out" he had a point, Amm always did. My shoulders fell, the signal that Amm needed "She'll need a call sign" he said when he saw my defeat.

"I think I already have one" I said.

14

"Ghost, for crying out loud!" I cried exasperated "Don't go easy on him just because you know the kid" Sylo, now known as Ghost was sparring with Emmett, the decision to make her a runner had been hers, now it was my job to ensure that she knew enough not to get killed. Of course the boy wanted to follow where she went, so I was to train both, martial arts was my strong point outside technomancy, something Sylo had little training in, but Emmett excelled at, the two would make a good team one day, mage and machine. That is if Emmett would get his head together and actually strike back at Ghost.

"Both of you, if you're this lenient with your enemies then you may as well shoot yourself now!" I shouted, Ghost flipped Emmett with a resounding smack, still not good enough, I sighed, I heard a deep grunt behind me, Amm walked in.

"Token play fighting?" he asked

"Oh lord Amm, it's a disaster!" he laughed at my defeated expression and clapped me on the back.

"I'll take the boy, you take Ghost" he said removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves, I grinned and waved him through.

"Right children, new plan" I said "I'll take on Sylo"

"Ghost" she corrected, she had taken an immediate preference to the name, and rarely answered to Sylo anymore. It was good that she really seemed to be enjoying this, had she shown even the slightest sign of hesitation I'd have put a ban on the whole thing.

"Ghost" I amended in apology "Amm will take Emmett, one word of advice boys and girls, do not hold back, because we won't" With that I split the group, I also com'd the Doc to let her know we were in for a good thrashing so she might want to be on standby.

"Any rules?" Emmett asked and I had to laugh.

"Do you plan on asking the guy holding the gun if there are rules? Don't be an idiot, always assume you're fighting for your life, use whatever you've got, any hidden tricks, use them" I left Emmett to Amm and squared up against Ghost, she was so tiny in front of me.

"I don't want to hurt you Tor" she said, nervous, her huge eyes wide.

"Then you've already lost" I told her and took a swing, she dodged lightly, but didn't press the attack, I took another swing, this time not holding anything back, she dodged by a hair's breadth, suddenly afraid. I had never really struck her before; grapple holds in training were one thing but a full force blow? Never.

"Come on Ghost" I told her "Fight back, if you don't you WILL get hurt" she dodged another blow, at least she was fast on her feet, that might keep her alive if she went up against someone hand to hand until she could escape, but if they had a weapon? She skittered round another blow, but didn't see my leg come up to hit her right in the solar plexus, I'd been holding back on the blow, unbalanced it didn't connect how I wanted, but she hit the ground hard. Behind me Emmett and Amm were going at it in much the same way.

"I give up Tor" Amm said "They'll only get themselves killed" he said as Emmett hit the ground "Maybe we should up the anti? Really make it life or death?" I shook my head, I'd rather have Dash if we're doing that" I told him "No offense man but you get frenzied in the heat of battle, I put a weapon in your hands and the boy could end up . . ."

Suddenly my feet went out from under me, damn the girl, she'd taken my distraction to take a shot. I hit the floor and rolled as she slammed a leg down where my face had been, smart move.

Amm laughed at me as I scrambled up. Ghost stood before me, face flushed, hair flying in wisps from her braid and on her face was a look of determination

"In game" I muttered and squared up. I struck another blow; she dodged, this time not away, but forward, slamming her palm upwards into my face. The angle was mercifully off a little, or my nose would have broken like a twig, as it was pain flared on my face and tears welled up. She brought a knee up to my stomach and swung the other arm up for an uppercut.

I caught her wrist, spinning her to face away from me, knee in her side, she twisted, unnaturally so and pulled hard, I swear I heard her shoulder pop as she flipped me over onto my back, deftly kneeing me in the face as I went down; I flipped up, just out of her reach.

She was fast, too fast for me, I had strength but as she dodged another of my blows I realised that her speed was her greatest asset, she might not be able to do much damage when she struck, but as long as she was this fast she could strike several times before the opponent had time to recover, she could also dodge blows, and she was small enough to get inside a bigger opponent's swing.

I feigned left and struck out catching her across the shoulder, her left arm hanging limply, had she dislocated it? She pulled away, then dive rolled forward and sprung up on her one good hand, her legs coming up, the movement was so unexpected it hit me square in the face, her other leg caught around my shoulder, she let go of the ground. Her sudden weight, slight though it was pulled me off balance and I went over, her legs wrapped round my throat in a choke hold, gut reaction my hands went up around her legs to free my wind pipe, but she stuck fast, my vision blurred a second before she let go. Rolling back she stood over me, a huge grin on her face, she offered me a hand.

"So how'd I do?" she said panting a little.

"That was awesome" I said, using one of her favourite terms, we looked across to Amm and Emmett, who was having less than great luck with the Troll.

"I thought I told you to not hold back" I asked Amm, the huge troll shrugged.

"Didn't seem fair" he gave Ghost an appreciative nod "Not bad"

"Thanks" _could her grin get any bigger?_ I wondered.

"Don't thank him, you're facing him next" I told her, her arm still hung by her side "After you fix that" I said "Doesn't it hurt?" she simply shrugged.

"Yes, but it's happened so often I don't mind it anymore" she said.

"When the . . . ?"

"My step father was a hard man" she said cutting me off, she had a look in her eyes for a moment, defiant, anger, before she had seemed nothing but shy, but now she had power, now she could fight back, she wasn't cowering anymore.

"Torrin!" Doc called "Call for you" _who in the world?_

15

"Torrin, it's been a while" Long blonde hair and bright blue eyes looked back at me on the screen, a face I'd not seen in a good number of years.

"Hanson!" I laughed, "you cowboy, what are you doing these days?"

"Nothing much, but I'm moving back to Seattle, wondered if you were up to much?"

"Yes and no" I told him "Training"

"Training?" He said his thick southern drawl coming out "You? You don't need training, unless you let yourself go over the last three years?"

"Hardly" I said "It's not me that's taking the training"

"Torrin the techno teacher" Hanson laughed at me "never pegged you as the teacher type, though you did preach enough about that God of yours" I gave him a grin, we'd spent many a night with the bottle and the book, it all seemed like a distant memory now though.

"So you're back in town? How long for?"

"As long as there's work, I figured you might have some jobs going?"

"Not at the minute, but you should stop by all the same"

"Thanks I will do" he gave me a wave then logged off, huh, seems the team would be back together again if Hanson came back on the run, Dash would be pleased, Hanson was an adept, capable of magic and machine wielding, he was a balance between the team, and a good friend to Dash.

"Who was that?" Ghost asked her arm in a sling, Doc had reset her shoulder, an ugly bruise just visible at the neck line of her T, still she seemed happy enough and didn't look to be in pain.

"An old friend" I said "He'll swing by sometime to say Hi, I might see about him showing you some little magic tricks" Ghost's eyes lit up at that. She liked anything new.

True to his word Hanson arrived a few days later, still young, a few years under me he was a drifter in the running community, constantly moving place to place, but he was solid, a good guy, and a genuine laugh.

"Tor, Jesus you put on some muscle" he said clapping me on the back as he stepped inside, he shook himself off in the doorway from the rain that was pouring.

"Found the place alright then?" I asked

"Yah, not a bad little place you got" he said taking a look around, movement caught his eye "you got a guest?" he asked.

"Actually that's Ghost" I told him, I didn't need to look around to know who was passing through "she lives here"

"Oooh girlfriend" Hanson whistled "Hey I promise I won't steal this one like I did Anna"

"Hannah"

"Whatever"

"Yeah you'd better keep your paws off" I threatened "She's practically a daughter to me" Hanson's face was full of surprise.

"Daughter to you? What like a legal guardian?"

"More like an illegal one" I told him "Ghost are you going to say hello or hide all night?" A curtain of red hair poked from behind the stairwell she was always shy when she met someone new, particularly men. Her huge green eyes surveyed Hanson with curiosity.

"Well hey there" Hanson said leaning lazily against the doorframe "How you doing?" I smacked him and pulled him inside

"I'm warning you" I growled half-heartedly.

"A threat?"

"Nope, a promise" Hanson looked disappointed, especially when Ghost finally stepped out of hiding, She truly was a beautiful woman, lithe, but with curves enough to make most men stop dead, fire for hair and fresh green shoots in her overly large eyes, her skin was flawless but for a small patch of freckles over the bridge of her nose.

"You torture me Tor" Hanson breathed "But I swear I won't touch her" he put out a hand, his form of a promise, he never broke a promise he had shook on, I took his hand gladly.

"I'll get you a beer"

16

At first I thought that maybe having Hanson in the house would upset the balance of peace between Ghost and Emmett, Ghost took a great interest in Hanson and his previous adventures at first, and I could see Emmett's reluctance to work with the guy for training.

After about a week though once she had learnt enough about him she simply stopped paying him any extra attention over what she gave to Emmett, of course this level of attention still didn't exactly suit Emmett, he tried several times to win her affection, but every time he approached her in a romantic sense she flinched away, she would push him away and a dark cloud would descend on the household for about a week, then someone or something would break the tension and things would relax again.

"Emmett a word" I told him one day after a particularly long spell of darkness, this time he'd gone all out and apparently confessed everything, Ghost hadn't left her room for nearly two weeks.

"Yeah Tor?" he was shuffling his feet, an old habit from when he was a child; it meant he knew a grinding was coming and he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"This thing you have for Ghost" I prompted him, he looked away from me and shoved his hands in his pockets, dejected, I sighed "Look, did your father ever tell you what happened with Ghost? How she came to live with me?" a small nod. "Then you know what kind of mental trauma she went through, how delicate she is when it comes to physical contact, you remember the first few months she was here she wouldn't even let anyone touch her at all?" another small nod, more shuffling of his feet "She's not ready for a relationship Emm, she's too fragile, the fighting and the running she can concentrate on, that gives her strength but romance? It just reminds her of what the monster did to her"

"I'd protect her, I wouldn't hurt her" Emmett said

"I'm not saying that you would, the thought couldn't be further from my mind Emmett, but she doesn't need a boyfriend right now, she needs a friend, a good friend, a best friend. Be there for her when she needs you, be someone she can come to when she has problems, let her come to you"

"But it's been years Tor!" he hissed, frustration evident "How long do I have to wait for her?"

"As long as it takes" I told him "That's what a real man would do, give her time, let her know he's there but that the terms are her own, she cares about you Emmett"

He huffed at that and looked away again.

"She DOES care for you" I told him "Who insisted on dragging your ass out from the river when you rally drove into it? Who saved you from the bar fight down town a few weeks ago? She was well in her rights to leave you to it, lord knows most people round here would have, but she cares about you enough to put herself in danger to get you out of harms way" now he simply looked guilty, and as well he should. I sighed again, bone deep with exhaustion, heart to hearts weren't exactly my favourite kind of conversation, but the Lord had given me grace to speak and a mind to keep peace . . . well sort of, if keeping the peace meant occasionally blowing something up then I was doing a grand job. "Look, just give her more time, things will work out as they should, they always do"

17

"I PASSED!" Ghost was jumping up and down ecstatic, hair flying everywhere; she was grinning so broadly I thought the smile would chop her face in half; she flew through the door and hit me square in the chest in a hug so fierce it almost sent me flying.

Her Aerospace piloting certificate was soon on proud display in her room, the name Evelyn Xanders printed in gold leaf on the thick parchment. Her alias for flight school, she'd reigned supreme in her class coming second, apparently the guy who came first had a long history of aerospace flying in his family. Indeed the Aldrin boy and Ghost had been so far ahead of everyone else in the blind tests that I fully expected her to be head hunted for a prestigious job working with one of the Mega Corps. Sure enough job proposal's started coming in the very next week.

"Tor what do I do?!" she was nervously eyeing a table full of proposal letters "I don't want to leave you" I don't think it had occurred to her that if she actually passed her exams that she would be expected to take a job somewhere, Seattle wasn't exactly the best in the country for space flight, she needed to be further south for that, a quiet job here would be beneath her and I told her as much.

"But there's so many people all wanting Evelyn Xanders to pilot for them" she moaned "I couldn't choose between any of them, and all of them are out of the city away from you and my friends" she started biting her nails, a habit of hers when she was forced to make a choice on something "I don't want to work for a Mega Corp, what if he finds me?" now that part I understood.

"Don't worry, your alias is so tight it would take someone months to crack, and the second they even start to try I get an alarm bell, so we even have an age to get you out of the place legit so people don't start talking" she still looked worried "Or you could reply back to a few of them and say thanks but no thanks", she brightened a little.

"Really?"

"Sure, I mean they're a job offer, not a threat to your life" I told her, "Now clear the table of the buggers before they make me get all maternal, besides I need somewhere to put the food for the party"

"You? Maternal?" She laughed at me; I feigned brushing a tear from under my eye.

"My little girl's all grown up and leaving the nest" I sniffed, and then dodged a deftly thrown spoon as she helped me set for the celebrations.

Celebrations went on into the wee hours, most of the group crashed over, the following morning was a job picking my way through a tangle of blankets and bodies and glass bottles on the floor, I put the kettle on and was about to make breakfast when I realised I didn't see Emmett anywhere in the mess of people. Suddenly panicked I went up to Ghost's room, tapping lightly on the door, I know she was old enough and that Emmett was a good guy but just something had me worried.

"Ghost?" I asked through the door "I'm gonna attempt pancakes again, you want some?" a stupid excuse I know but it was all I could come up with, silence.

"Ghost?" Gingerly I pushed open the door, mindful of that little metal strip that separated the carpets, the boundary to the room that had been in place since she came to live with me. The room inside was empty, the bed had been slept in and not yet made, I sighed with relief as I realised that only one side of the bed was crumpled, she'd been alone then. But where was she now?

I heard muffled laughter and went to my bedroom window to look outside in the pitiful space I called the garden; I had a few pots there and a swing bench, nothing much. The two were sat on the swing bench, Ghost curled up in the corner facing Emmett, hugging her knees, still in her pyjamas, barefoot, her long hair down in loose tangles from waking, Emmett on the other hand was fully dressed, shoes on, had he been out. A small box and shreds of gold wrapping paper sat between them, so maybe this was the next step for them? Something in me hurt with that thought, and my mind went back to what Amm had said before. I stepped away from the window; let them have this time together. I padded back down stairs to sort out a mug of very strong coffee.

"Hey Tor, look what Emmett got me" she beamed at me a short while later, a small coms link, it was a flashy model but a disposable one, the one limitation on all of Ghosts electrical goods was that they be untraceable and could be dumped at a moment's notice. "It's got a high enough spec that I can use it in my piloting, I won't have to use the cockpit jack, I can do it wirelessly" She was smiling, a genuine warm smile. It was a very thoughtful gift, something she would be able to use to help her work, and it could be used in running to, which was of course assuming she carried on the running when she got a full time job.

"Does he know that you'll probably be leaving for an aero pilot job?" I asked her smile faded for a moment.

"He does, but he said wherever I went he'd visit me" I liked the sound of that, visit, not move with; perhaps the boy really had taken to heart what I'd told him, or was this just another lull period before it all blew up again?

"Oooh shiny" Hanson said coming up behind her "Very nice, now then" he clapped his hands together "Who's your favourite mage teacher?" he beamed.

"Dash" she replied laughing, his face fell comically a moment but brightened instantly.

"Well can Dash teach you how to be invisible" he said waving his hands like an old school magician.

"Yes" she said "He already started" now the look of dismay was genuine.

"Man! I was going to teach it to you as a congrats gift" he sulked, she laughed again

"Well speed teach me then" she said, he grinned at her and took her hand.

"To the training room!" he shouted pulling her along with him, dodging a shoe thrown at him from a barely conscious and very hung over Doc.

Amm grumbled and sat up as they left "You know if she's really going ahead with this move then we'll need to make sure she stays hidden" he said.

"Already working on it" I told him. I had a plan, Clearwater mark two. But it was still eight months from completion, still she didn't seem in much of a hurry to go anywhere just yet, besides she'd gotten some runners jobs lined up to keep her nice and busy for a little while. . . .

18

Eight months later . . .

"You know this wont be easy" The hulk of troll said as he glanced at the package in his hands "you'll be cutting yourself off from everyone in the game, and not just for now, it'll be for good Tor" Deter took a drag on a large cigar, his red eyes steady on mine. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"It is" I said, no hesitation, I couldn't afford to be uncertain, what I was planning was one of the most ludicrous acts any runner had ever done.

"The eraser wont like this very much, he's already pulled a couple of stunts for you and for this child of yours, I wonder if you even know what you're getting yourself into, it'll wipe you out, financially and all your contacts, is she worth that much?"

"You have to ask that?" I said carefully lighting my own cigar with a match, a rare treat, Ghost had bought me a box for my birthday last year, they really did make the difference when lighting up. Deter gave me a stern look, but pocketed the package, just as I knew he would.

"This will mean we're square" he told me "After the stunt from last month, I'm doing it because you both saved my ass back there"

"I know" I told him "but we all have things that we would sacrifice our very lives for" I saw the look in his face soften, he was thinking about the kid that was due any day now "After this you'll never get a job from me again" I promised him

"Not if you die I won't" he huffed and leant back in his chair "How is she?"

"The team are watching out for her" I told him

"And the boy?" He asked "has he given up yet?" I sighed

"Emmet won't give up so easily, he's infatuated with her, but she's not ready yet for a relationship" I took another drag of my cigar, letting the smoke swirl in my mouth a moment "I'm not even sure she ever will be" The troll nodded gravely.

"Not surprising with what she went through, still she can't be a child forever" he said, making the warning clear.

"She's not a child now, certainly not in body, she wasn't even when I found her, but even after all this time I feel the need to protect her" I scratched lazily at my chin a moment in thought. Maybe I should talk to her about Emmet "At the minute though she doesn't even seem to notice that he likes her, there was a time last year but now she's gone cold again" I admitted "it'll be hard to win her over if she doesn't even see him"

"Do you want her with Emmet though?" Deter asked seriously "I know he's a good kid but he's brash, thoughtless sometimes and cocky, he's also not exactly known for his outstanding loyalty to the girls he dates" I hid a scowl.

"I'm aware of that, but he seems keen, and she's grown up, she should really make her own choice in the matter, but given how I've hidden her away this whole time she doesn't exactly have a lot of choices"

"Maybe that's a sign you should let her out on missions more often" it wasn't the first time the troll had suggested as much, he an Amm shared the same view "She's a talent for it, that much you can't deny, this last year she's really developed into a great runner" I hated when the troll spoke the truth, it was hard to ignore him, he was right of course, of all the members on the team Ghost was the fastest wit, quick to learn, calm in a crisis, whether that was due to her chaotic past or just her steely nature I wasn't sure, but sure as hell she could move as her namesake and had yet to fail a single mission she'd been sent on.

"Maybe" I said rolling the cigar in my clawed fingers "Speaking of work, do you have anything for me?" the troll grinned showing his canines.

"Thought you'd never ask" he said drawing out an envelope from his long coat "Got a man in jail up for parole. Good enough runner, but got sold out by his team when the job went sour, we'll need to get him out if we're to recruit him for the next job that Dodge is sorting" he said.

"Where are they keeping him?" I asked, jail breaks were things best left to the suicide runners.

"That's not the plan" Deter said carefully, "we intend to get him released legit"

"Legit? How?"

"We're going to use the prosecution evidence against them, once they're confronted with the files relating to his case under a court judge they'll have to release him, if we're lucky it may not even go to court" huh? I thought.

"So how do you plan on achieving that then?" I asked, curiosity burning at me.

"There are some files in the prosecutor's office that we need you to get, these files have everything on the case and have the relevant evidence codes for us to get our boy out." the troll's eyes gleamed "I need you to bring me those files, do this and I'll even put in a good word with the Eraser for you" hmmm, not an unreasonable request, that and the better mood the Eraser was in as he read my request the better chance I would have of getting him to accept it. A simple job.

I skim read the file content for information, location, guards. Most of the guard routes had been plotted already; it was an easy in and easy out job, too easy in fact.

"What's the catch with the job?" I asked suspiciously, Deter gave me a grin.

"You never miss a trick do you Tor?" he smiled "The job's all laid out, but the security system on the building is a high grade, we need a team of at least two hackers, one on the inside, one on the out" he levelled a look at me "Think Emmett is skilled enough for this one?"

I didn't think he'd have any trouble, but still . . .

"I've got Hanson spare, I'll take him too, a four man team, I'll work the outside, Emmett will take the hard wire inside, Hanson is back up and Ghost can do the initial entry"

"She's getting good at the magic tricks Hanson and Dash taught her, Amm keeps me updated" he nodded approvingly "think she'll be alright on her own?"

"Better than the boys" I confirmed, with perhaps a little bit of pride in my voice "She can get in and scope the place out, when the coast is clear we'll send the boys in" Deter stood to go

"Good to hear it Tor, I'll take this as my cue to leave" he left the envelope with me "god be with you Tor"

"And with you" I replied walking him to the door, the door opened on its own and a laden down Ghost appeared in the doorway, shoving bags and pushing a hamper over the threshold with her foot. Her long red hair was plastered to her face from the torrential rain that battered the street outside, she was nineteen already, the curves of a real woman, but maintain her slight and lithe figure, no wonder Emmett wanted her so badly. I caught Deter giving her the approving once over, I jabbed him in the back with a firm warning finger, he laughed. Ghost exasperated scolded us both.

"Are you two just going to stand there!?" she stepped over the hamper to put the groceries on the table "Lend a hand would you?" I shrugged at the troll who simply picked up the hamper as ordered and set it down on the table. Two huge green eyes looked up from the multitude of bags "Hey D! Didn't see it was you" she grinned broadly "You staying for the celebrations?"

"Celebrations?" the troll asked in confusion.

"Uh huh, Tor's Birthday" she said, those huge eyes full of mischief, I'd told her not to make a fuss! She rummaged round in the bags until she brought out a slim flat package wrapped in pink. "you can open it now, you're going to need it" she said, "but you have to open this one first" she handed me yet another package, this one was round and rung like metal as she set it down. "Tea?"

I heard the troll laugh "I was just on my way out, but sure, why not" he pulled up his chair again. I moved to help pack away the shopping, Ghost bounding around the kitchen, kettle on, humming some wild country tune. When everything was packed away I sat with the two presents in front of me. I was . . . apprehensive.

"This isn't going to be like the guitar is it?" I asked, last year she'd bought me a guitar so I could learn to play the country tunes I loved so much, only for the strings to break under my huge sharp claws, not that she minded, she'd taken the instrument up herself, though still in need of some practise. All she had to do now was find the courage to learn to sing too, I'd caught her a few times when she thought no-one was looking, or when she was in a good mood, she really had a truly beautiful voice, but in true Ghost fashion she kept it hidden away.

"Nope this time I got it just right" she said, her eyes sliding to one side, a tell.

"What?" I asked, she paused to let Amm in, he too was soaking wet, he shrugged off the water from his coat, nodding to Deter as he took up a chair. " _Ghost_?" I stressed

"Well, everything except the colour" she admitted "but I'll get you a different one later, when the store gets some more in" she grinned again, I couldn't help but smile back, she was just so infectious.

I relented and under her watchful and slightly embarrassed eye I opened the large round gift. I was rewarded with a baking set, a whisk, spatula, mixing bowl with built in scales, wooden spoon (yes that was real wood) all neatly arranged in the large round cake tin that served as its container. "You love cooking and the bakery, and you were always saying how you were going to take it up when you gave up running" she said, her green eyes waiting for my reaction. Let her wait a bit longer, I thought, and opened the last present, a pair of oven mitts, and a cooking apron, both my size, though she was right about the colour it was. . . Amm burst out laughing

"You blooming fairy!" he laughed clapping a great hand on his thigh "I'd love to see you wear that!" I looked at Ghost who hid her face in her hair, embarrassed. I smiled and stood, pulling the princess pink apron over my head, oven mitts on.

"What do you think?" I asked Amm, the troll could barely contain his laughter, I moved round to Ghost and scooped her into a hug "They're amazing, I love it" I said, and yeah I actually meant it, pink and all. Ghost laughed, musical; yeah all was right with the world again.

"We'll have to bake a cake before the guys get here" she said, I nodded; she laughed and jumped up running to the kitchen coms link to bring up recipes.

"She's got you sussed" Amm said, still failing to hide his amusement at my new attire "I can't picture you as a baker" he admitted.

"Neither can I, but it's something I wanted to do" I told him, I flexed my hands inside the mitts, the smile faded a moment "I can't keep her here forever" I said "but I can at least keep her safe if I'm no longer around" Deter rolled his eyes and stood.

"I'd best be on my way" he said "I'll run Clear water through the Eraser, get him to approve it and make any adjustments" I gave my thanks, the huge troll paused in the doorway "You realise that until this baby goes off she'll be watched constantly, everything she does will be tracked, she'll be in every matrix program that's made as part of the ether"

"When this baby goes off it'll take anything that has seen her out for the count for good" I said "Anything that's ever seen her face, every camera, every bank transfer, coms link, it'll erase her like no-one has ever been erased before"

"And if someone cracks the coding?"

"They won't, not unless they want to die" I said. Amm raised an eyebrow at me, he knew about Clear water, but wasn't yet aware it was ready to go, Deter nodded a farewell, pulled his hood up to the wind and rain and left, leaving me with precious little time until the others arrived for the party tonight, but this would be a double celebration, it was five years ago tonight that I'd brought Ghost home with me, and it would mark the beginning of my last run into the shadows, I was after all, at thirty, getting too old for this shit.

19

"Hanson have you seen Emmett?" I called, the young man shook his head eyes straining in the room, he was looking for Ghost, playing hide and seek again no doubt.

The door opened and Emmett stepped in, looking guilty "And where have you been?" I asked "We are suppose to start in a couple of hours" I huffed; he looked away from me "Did you pick up the com links I asked for?"

"Yeah" Emmett handed me a small box, disposable coms devices inside, he looked about "Ghost here?"

"Somewhere" I confirmed "Hide and seek again" I told him, he scowled for a second, he often did that whenever Hanson and Ghost had lessons, jealously is a cruel thing, particularly to the young.

I'd spoken with Ghost about Emmett, not the easiest of conversations, she had admitted that she liked him, but she was also very much aware that she wasn't in love with him, and that she wasn't ready for a relationship, still it hadn't been an all out rejection of his feelings, which I had expected. She was either very mature, or really felt at least something for the young man, he'd stuck by her side the whole time since I'd brought her home, maybe now she was starting to notice him, though if I was completely honest I still wasn't sure that I approved of him, recently he'd become . . . well just odd.

I left the group to relax before the mission; I still needed to check out a few things. The security system for the law firm had been put in place a while ago, however last month a young hacker had managed to get inside on his own, this guy was starting to make a name for himself on the matrix circle, he entered and left much like his name, a storm, blowing in, causing utter devastation before leaving again. It wasn't clear if he'd found what he went in for, but as a result the security level had been given a boost. How he'd even gotten in on his own was a wonder; I had my suspicions of a physical jack coupled with a wireless hack, pretty dangerous stuff as Virtual reality left your physical body totally unprotected. Well however he'd managed to do it he'd succeeded in making my job that much harder, but then I'd been on the game a lot longer than he had, and Emmett had a fair enough skill, it shouldn't be too difficult.

The van pulled up in the alley way two blocks over, the side door sliding open, Ghost shot me her silent promise of return and slid out like a wraith; Emmett watched her go, wait for ten minutes then it was their turn. I switched on my coms, my wireless hacking was about to be put to the test. Hanson checked his watch, his silvery blue eyes cold and hard, my back up, for all of us, he'd make sure Ghost got out alive if things turned sour.

"May God have mercy" I whispered and hit the enter key. Lines of code whipped past my vision so fast even I had to strain in deciphering it, no matter though, it was mostly fluff text, what I needed was . . . there! I started my unlocking, rapid typing, as well as mind uplink, words and lines of code appearing as fast as I could think of them. From my right field of vision I saw Hanson open the door to the truck, check his pistol and nod to Emmett before dashing off in the direction Ghost had gone.

"Emmett, your turn" I told the boy, there was no response for a moment "Emmett?!" I snapped, he blinked and moved, jumping from the van.

"Sorry Torrin, Bye" he mumbled sliding the door shut, stupid boy, timing was everything! I growled low in my throat, when we got back to the house I'd have to give him a good hiding on the rules of working as a team. I also made a note to find out what was going on in his head, his late nights out and snappy demeanour were beginning to both annoy and worry me.

"Torrin?" Ghost's voice came over the coms link "everything OK?" she sounded worried; she always sounded worried on a job.

"Fine, just the firewall giving me a hard time" I said, I could hear her breathing relax "Now remember Ghost, you might be invisible to eyes, but it won't help you against camera's or mechanical enhancement"

"I know" she said "Are the boys in yet? I've already unlocked the door" Already? So where was she now? I heard her open a hatch and a sharp click was heard "you're plugged" she said, excellent, stage one complete, and faster than expected, Ghost had somehow opened up and gotten me plugged in the time allocated to simply open the door, how she got through those vents so quickly I had no idea; she was faster than Tera had been, and I never met anyone in the past who was faster than the bubbly blonde.

"Not yet, give them thirty more seconds" I said my matrix vision suddenly clicked and went green, I was in. I smiled broadly; your Kung Fu is not strong.

"Ghost we're in, meet us at the point" Hanson's voice came over the coms, I clicked a few additional buttons and suddenly the cameras were my eyes and ears. I heard Ghost laugh.

"You watch far too many old movies" she said "Meet us at the point? You ain't in Die Hard" no movement on my cameras, though her coms signal told me she should be right in front of one, that's my girl. A guard appeared in her camera area, no unusual pauses or stops, guess her invisibility must be holding up then. "K guys watch out for the guard, I don't want any unnecessary casualties" she sounded like me.

"Are you suggesting we can't be as Wraith like as you?" Emmett's voice came over the coms, he sounded tense and more than a little pissed off; but this was to be his first mission where he'd work semi solo, once he jacked in I couldn't help him. I wondered for a moment if the weight of this responsibility was what had caused his recent mood swings, it was possible, I remembered they had started around the time we had discussed the job.

"Now boys and girls, you need to concentrate, if we're gonna get those papers and get out of there in one piece we need to keep our minds on the prize, not on petty bickering " I told them, Mind on the job I always told them, Ghost com'd me.

"How's the camera's looking?" I smiled, back to the point my girl.

"Just a second more and you'll have the old classic loop de loop, our little security guy doing the rounds upset my write for a moment, don't want them seeing his ugly ass wandering around again and again" I said, moving a few jacks and plugs "Done, now you guys have exactly six minutes until the next guard is due round, if I don't have the loop off by then . . ."

"Yeah we know, bad ass trouble" Ghost said dropping her invisibility, now appearing on screen I heard a low whistle and Emmet rounded the corner, Hanson close behind. I kept my eyes on the other camera feeds, keeping my eyes open for the guards.

"Hey Gorgeous" Emmet said with a smile sliding up beside an annoyed looking Ghost.

"Mind on the job Emmet" she said smacking a wandering hand away, he raised both hands in submission before placing one on the door beside her, pulling a jack plug from his neck to plug into the console by the handle. I gritted my teeth at his obvious display of crude affection, I had spoken with him about this kind of behaviour, and on the job it was dangerous. On my screen the door lock activated, the boy had done his job though, breaking the first of many firewalls easily.

"You know one of these days Ghost you're gonna let me in that mind of yours" he whispered.

"Never in your wildest dreams" she whispered back. Hanson had their backs as Emmet broke the door's security code by code, he gingerly tested the door and peeked inside.

"All clear" he said and strolled into the room, on screen Ghost and Hanson followed, Ghost's pistol aimed down the corridor to their right, Hanson watching to the left as they backed into the room. They were in. I breathed a sigh of relief, hard part over. Then the gun shots started.

20

I was up and out of the van in seconds, pistols drawn, wireless link up and running. I saw Hanson's face, or what was left of it hit the doorway into the corridor, who ever was there was inside the room, the image told me there was no way that Hanson had survived.

Suddenly my connection was severed, my link to the cameras gone, I tried calling to Ghost's com . . . nothing. Rage hit me, rage and fear; they're a powerful mix in the wrong hands. And mine; well let's just say they're anything but right.

I broke the side door to the building down, not caring at the noise, I had to get to Ghost, and she was my only objective now. A security guard tried to shoot me, a bullet hit him between the eyes. I heard the sound of running feet, heavy boots, patrol guards, police or higher, and there were a lot. Too many, they shouldn't have even been anyone in the building but the guards. It had been a trap.

Fine. I pulled a grenade from my belt, just a flash bang, but it would do, I pulled the pin and threw it round the corner, greeted with surprise and alarm it went off. I moved, pistols up, emptying clip after clip, re-loading on the run. It had been years since I'd gone all out in a fire fight, years since I'd dodged bullets, but it all came back. The senses of combat never dulled. I dodged a blow from a recruit who'd lost the use of his pistol; I dropped him full of lead and carried on.

The building was huge, but I knew the way, it had taken nearly seven minutes at full sprint to get here from the truck, a side affect of having to park so far away, six minutes initial infiltration, it would take me at least another four to get to her. Rage flared again; if she was dead then the wrath of God would descend on those who tried to keep me from her. Further armed men swept towards me, each downed with a bullet. My clips dry I resorted to using my hands, the last man's skull cracked beneath my fist.

I climbed the stairs three at a time, scooping up the rifle of a dead guard, too many guards, too well armed; it had to have been a set up, but who, who could have organised such a hit? They'd not been visible on camera, no indication that there was anything out of the ordinary, and yet they were there, in the very room we . . .

No, impossible. Did that mean it was someone from the inside? It couldn't be, but who would know? Not Hanson, and Amm would never have set up the job if he'd known, he had no reason to betray us, not Ghost not . . . no. Emmett. His behaviour lately, quiet, secretive, had he turned us in? But why? Earlier, he'd apologised, I had assumed it was because of phasing out of the job, but no. it was Emmett, Emmett had sold us out, he'd betrayed us.

I ran into a pair of guards dragging Hanson's body behind them, I emptied the full rifle into the pair, eyes streaked with tears, damn that boy, stupid, stupid boy!

The office now before me I kicked the door in, knife at the ready I threw it as my eyes found my target, the blade hit deep, one human eye went wide with shock, as did both of mine, what was HE doing here?! A final soldier took my hesitancy and fired a shot to my chest knocking me to my knees, my hands found a pistol on the floor, beside the body of Emmett. I unloaded two rounds into the bastard who shot me, struggling to breath I stood. The man with one eye before me slumped to the floor, a triumphant look on his face. A data cable linked from him to an unconscious body on the desk, Ghost.

She looked so frail; her eyes were crying, still alive. The data cable linked to the coms link that Emmett had given her when she passed her exams, I grasped it firmly and paused, if I pulled her out she'd be hurt, the dump shock might kill her. The man at my feet gurgled and spat blood; I kicked him in the face, an audible snap of his neck. Yet I could still hear him breathing. I heard the sound of more footsteps. I had no choice.

"Forgive me" I whispered as I pulled the plug. Ghosts tiny body bucked sharply in my arms, the force almost enough to make me drop her. Blood poured from her mouth, she'd bitten her tongue. Quickly I pulled her close to me, emptied the last round of the pistol into the window, and taking only a second to curse the man at my feet I jumped, glass falling around me, a three story drop I hit the ground running; legs on fire, my ankle felt it was going to give way at any moment and my arms and face now bled from a multitude of tiny cuts.

Screaming into the coms as I limply raced away from the van, the van was compromised, it wasn't safe anymore. But I had to get Ghost to the Doc.

"Amm!" I yelled, bullets rained around me, I sprinted the corner of the building "Amm, you bastard pick up!" I kept running, zigzagged through buildings as fast as I could, how I wished I could remain invisible like Hanson, Hanson my friend, what had happened to you?

"Tor?" Amm's voice was blurry, not surprising given the hour "What's wrong?"

"A set up Amm" I told him "Get me the Doc, Ghost's been hurt" Amm was all ears now; I opened my coms link so he could see Ghost's condition.

"Where are you?"

"Just wake the Doc" I told him "I'll meet you there"

It took me fifteen long and torturous minutes to reach the Doc's hideout, she was not impressed, standing there in a scruffy but clean lab coat over her pyjamas, her round belly poking through, the baby so close to birth now

"Tor it's nearly four in the . . ." she trailed off when she caught sight of Ghost "bring her" the sleep deprived look vanished, and the Doc's persona stepped up to the challenge. Amm hadn't had the opportunity to relay all the necessary information.

An orderly tried to pull Ghost's limp form from my hands, I was exhausted from the running, the fighting and my chest was on fire, the orderly gave me a look and I reluctantly let my grip slip from her figure. As she disappeared behind a set of double doors I collapsed.

21

"Hey Tor, you're awake" Amadaeous said behind a curtain of smoke, he sat at my bedside, crappy magazine in his huge hands, I bolted upright, pain shot everywhere and I collapsed back down again "she's fine Tor" he said "Ghost is alive, and sleeping soundly, Doc says she wont wake up for a while yet" I relaxed a little, but I still needed to see her for myself.

"How long have I been out?" I asked struggling to sit, my chest bare I had gauze padding over my heart, that's right I'd been shot! I pulled at the pad, only a minor cut and huge black bruise showed. "What happened?" I asked amazed "Where's the bullet hole?"

"Well for the first question I was hoping you could tell me" The Doc said breezing into the room, she smacked Amm over the back of the head "There's no smoking in here!" Amm dutifully extinguished his cigar "As for the second" she threw a small object at me. I glanced down, it was my bible, my book of psalms, the king of diamonds marking my page for me "Looks like God was watching out for you" she said leaning over Amm and patting his pocket, withdrew his lighter to light her own roll up, _no smoking huh?_

"You should be dead" she said blowing out a trail of smoke. "And if you play around with that dressing one more time boy I'll finish you off myself" I stopped fidgeting with the gauze padding, and I looked at the psalms in my hand and sure enough in the little book was buried a bullet, I was in awe but quickly shook it off, I'd thank God later.

"Ghost?" I asked, Amm rolled his eyes at me. I ignored him.

"Like Amm said, she's alive, bit her tongue but not too badly, it'll heal fine" Doc trailed off a moment to take a lung full of smoke "She's got trauma though, dump shock is a nasty business, she nearly came round, sounds like she was stuck in some kind of nightmare Tor" she paused a moment so I would realise the importance of her next line "whatever she was exposed to was pretty brutal. You need to be prepared for the fact that she may have been tortured, and if it happened in the matrix, it would have lasted hours to her, perhaps even days" she took another drag "she'll be disorientated, I'll get Jim to give her a check over when she wakes, but physically she'll be fine"

"Doc, the baby" I said eyeing the cigarette, she shrugged before fixing me with a glare.

"It's so late it's early, I've been in theatre for four hours stressing because you bring Ghost to me in bits, but don't tell me you got shot, if Jim hadn't been passing through you'd be in a hell of a state" she said "stress level is high enough for me to warrant one cigarette" even so she put the remainder out "there's something else" she said

"What? About Ghost?"

"No" she said taking a seat, her ankles swollen she pushed off her shoes and flexed her feet "about you Tor, your rib cage is crushed, the impact of the bullet dented your bones"

"Dented?"

"The bullet didn't penetrate your skin but the force of it hitting you did, you've cracked and bent your upper ridge cage Tor, a break I can heal but a dent? A bend? Probably not"

"So what does that mean then?" I asked trying to process all this information, Doc sighed and gave me a look that told me I really didn't want to hear this.

"It means you're done Tor, you can't run anymore, your heart rate and breathing increases too much your chest wont expand far enough to cope, you'll pass out from not getting enough oxygen, you do that in the middle of a mission and you're a dead man Tor" she huffed and stretched her legs "It's always the bullets with you isn't it" she grumbled, she shifted in her seat, she put on her game face, her matter of fact "I want to know everything" face.

"Right, now I'm wedged so I can't fall out, and I have tissues handy" she began, pulling a pocket pack from her lab coat "Now where are Emmett and Hanson?"

22

The funeral was a strange affair, no bodies to bury, there was just a small head stone, Dash had passed away, he was ashamed of what had happened, ashamed on his son's behalf, and he'd lost Tera and now his only son. There was no pulling him back this time, we all knew it, when he arrived at the Doc's a week later and asked to die, in sound mind and knowledge and in good health she had not the heart to refuse, she couldn't take seeing Dash in that condition again, none of us could.

We had gathered together to say our last goodbyes, sort out his affairs before the Doc put a needle in his arm. Now his ashes were scattered in the wind, the headstone simply said "A Father and his Son"

Hanson's plaque beneath bore only a date, nothing more. Doc cried throughout the service, I read a passage from the psalms but it held no comfort. Ghost was still unconscious, we'd lost another member of the original team, and two of the new, too much grief in so short a time. I still didn't know what to say to Ghost when she woke up, this would surely drag her back into herself, she'd loose everything that she had gained, there would be no more teams now, no more running.

I was helping Doc get into the car when my coms buzzed, Ghost's sleep patterns had changed, and she was waking up.

It was sometime before she came round, I woke up beside her bedside to find her green eyes staring at me

"You're awake" I said softly, with a slight smile, I heard something in the corridor, head turning to the sound of a male humming, very close "The doctor is here by the sounds of it"

The curtain that was our doorway swung open and Jim walked in, clipboard in hand; quickly as anything his light pen was out and in her eyes, firm but gentle.

"She's responsive enough" he said "She managed to survive the dump shock with very little damage to her brain activity, a tough girl" the light was removed and he scribbled quickly on his clipboard "So how are you feeling Ghost?"

"Like hell, but glad to be out of there" she blinked a few times to clear the blur of light from her eyes, seemingly surprised by the strength of her own voice.

"You're lucky to be alive Ghost" Jim said, not looking up as he continued his furious scribbling "Torrin didn't have time to use the proper procedure to unplug you, you're very lucky your brain didn't overload"

"Unplug me? . . ." she trailed off, her eyes darted to mine in panic; I held her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze.

I calmed my expression and very quickly stood and guided the doctor out of the room, she was tired, just woken up and we had a lot to discuss, yes I would shout if I or she needed anything. I returned to the bedside, the plastic chair creaked ominously under my weight.

"It's just me now Ghost" I said carefully "I know there is something more than what I can see on the surface" I paused and shifted in the chair which creaked again loudly, the sound echoing in the tiny curtained room "Ask me your questions, how long were you out for?" I guessed her first question and she nodded. "You've been in the hospital for two weeks, they've been treating you for dump shock, it's what happens if you are pulled out of the matrix without the proper exit procedure" Her eyes widened I kept my eyes on her, steady "How long were you there Ghost?" Her lower lip trembled, tears filled her eyes.

"Five years, four months" she said, she was trembling now, the realisation starting to become clear, it was worse than we could have ever imagined, Doc had said days, maybe even a week, but years?

"It wasn't five years Ghost, your step father had you linked into virtual reality, time has no meaning there, you can make a second last an eternity, or an eternity last a second. When Hanson's life monitor went out I made my way up to the magistrates office, Ghost . . ." I trailed off as I pulled up the strength "it took me less than twenty minutes to reach that office Ghost, that place, where ever he took you, it doesn't exist, it never happened"

I reached out a hand to wipe a tear from her cheek, She just let them fall "I'm so sorry Ghost, so very sorry" broken she cried; once she started she couldn't stop, her body shaking as she cried and cried silent tears. She hadn't cried since the night I had brought her home, not like this, not broken like this, I pulled her to me and sat on the bed cradling her as she broke and fell apart in my arms.

"He'll pay Ghost, I swear together, we'll make him pay" I said. It was a long time until either of us spoke again.

23

After that she withdrew just as I thought she would, she barely spoke; the only time she became animated was when a job came through. At first I wanted her to stay clear of running, Lord knows I was tired of turning people away who wanted her skills or mine, Doc's warning still fresh in my mind, but she was insistent; but gone now was the excitement, gone was the laughing and expectation of a challenge, everything became almost robotic to her.

"If I don't go out Tor I'll die here" she told me once "If I don't do something then I don't think I'll be able to keep my sanity" she was right too. She took up Japanese, she'd had a base learning before when she was young, and her mother had been an interpreter to chief executives so she was already verbally fluent, but she insisted on learning the Kanji.

She now refused to wear a coms device, no technology ever again for her, the nightmare being plugged in haunted her, and it was as if we'd been transported back in time to her first year, screams at night, only this time she didn't care that I stepped into her room to hold her while she cried, needing someone there. Her dreams of aero piloting were gone; there were barely any crafts now that could be flown without the use of a coms device. Her job proposal letters soon stopped coming and that part of her died away too.

The house was so quiet, silent mostly, I tried to keep busy; I would write programmes for people if they requested them but for the most part it was just me and the deathly quiet of the house. I decided to take up the baking, make use of the pots Ghost had bought me, I found I enjoyed it immensely, and was actually good at it. Ghost found some enjoyment encouraging me, and she became a little happier, after a few months she actually started to smile again.

Doc and Amm visited often, with Baby Emmeson, a strange child, as meshed together in personality as the two he'd been named after. He adored Ghost, and I think it was really through him that she began to open up again. Still she was restless, taking on mission after mission, sometimes away for weeks on end. I worried, when someone is without a coms they feel lost to you, but she always came back.

Then one morning she got a call, Dodger her main contact for work asked her to pilot up to one of the space stations, initially she was apprehensive, but excited, she wanted so badly to fly again, I could see it in her movements, a simple job, there and back in just over a day. She was worried though, she'd be with a group for the first time since Emmett and Hanson, but still I told her.

"You're just driving them there" I said "You don't even have to talk to them" she shrugged and agreed. The day before she left I bought her a trinket, a small ceramic pendant with the number ten in Japanese, she wasn't religious, but the number was just close enough to god's symbol that I felt a connection to it, enough to feel like he would be watching out for her. It was also Ghost's lucky number.

"Be careful" I told her as I dropped her off.

"I know I know" she said hauling her back pack on her shoulder.

"You know your controls?" without a coms link she would have to use her memory.

"So long as I'm not in a model from the last two years it'll be just fine" she said glancing around at the ship "looks like we're in luck" she grinned and I gave her a wave before turning the car around. I had a day to get a cake baked for her return.

Later that night my coms went off, I turned over in bed, ignoring it for a moment, maybe it was Ghost? The thought came into my head, I was awake instantly.

"Torrin" I said, pulling up a blurry image of Dodger, he was stressed, worried and above all he looked . . . "Where is she?" I asked, my stomach fell away from me.

"Torrin I'm sorry, there was a group they . . . they attacked the shuttle . . ." he trailed off, I felt my heart stop.

"Damn it Dodge What HAPPENED?!" Dodge looked away from the screen.

"It crashed Tor, the shuttle crashed, there's nothing left, she's . . . she's gone." My world collapsed.

A note from the author

So guys this is Ghost's back story, as told through the eyes of her guardian Torrin, when I designed Ghost's character I had an idea as to where she had come from in life and as I started to write the original campaign up I began to really think and expand on what kind of things she might have gone through in order to become the person she is. And thus the book was born.

Looking through the eyes of Torrin was quite an experience, firstly it was the male side; I'd never played a male persona before so I had great fun trying to fill in the gaps of the main story with amusing quips and thoughts about why women did the things they did. There is a simplicity to Torrin's character in who he is and his style of living which is very different from my own; for example I am a hoarder of goods, Torrin has only what is absolutely necessary, I have a love of fanciful things where Torrin has simple designs only. I have a wide variety of friends, both weird and wonderful where Torrin has few people in his circle, but they are steadfast and true and that to him is what counts.

The character of Torrin is really a mash between our Games Master Ben and a good friend of mine called Trevor. Now Trevor was a huge guy, well built for his favourite sport of Rugby. His size however was in complete contrast to his demeanour, though physically he would tower over people at his impressive six foot seven he was a gentle soul and would often shy back when scolded by anyone in our college group, when it came to Anna who was barely five foot this made for some highly comical moments. He also loved to cook and the man was a genius in the kitchen. A trait which I found was similarly shared by Ben when it came to cooking flapjacks and cookies for game nights. Torrin is very much Trevor and Ben, Ben's confidence with Trevor's soothing and understanding soul.

Sadly Trevor passed away during my college years, whilst always the first to help someone who needed help, he himself kept everything inside and in the end it was too much for him. With Ghost I tried to understand how she would keep things inside like Trevor had and used those experiences to help shape her character; how they would affect the decisions she made. How her actions in dealing with her past would affect the others and how she would grow from the experiences she had. She's become a character I thoroughly enjoy playing and have had a great many adventures with.

So this book is kind of a homage to the great Trevor Atkins, I miss you mate, you'd really love the people I'm with now, they make me so happy and remind me so much of you. Rest in peace.

Ghost

Feb 2013 - updated for May 2017


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